The Other Side of the Mirror
CHAPTER 1: The Arrival of the Mirror
DISCLAIMER:
Happy: YamadaHikari does not own Fairy Tail or any of us characters!
Natsu: Happy! What are you doing? It's not your screen time yet! *tries to drag Happy away*
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Lucy: This story is set before the Tenroujima arc.
Happy: Enjoy the story! And don't forget to review! Aye sir!
It was a regular day in the guild. Erza Scarlet had just arrived to the guild after a long journey for her S Class job which she went alone. It has been a long time since she last went for a S Class job. She couldn't ask her teammates to go with her since they weren't S Class wizards yet, although she did feel quite bad about it.
"Lucy!" Erza called, looking around. The guild was unusually empty. Usually, it was full of her guild mates talking loudly and drinking beer.
Lucy Heartfilia, her teammate, rushed towards her. "Erza! You're back! How was your job?"
"It was fine," Erza replied. "I need to talk to Master for a while. Can you take of this for me?" She pointed to a tall, rectangular shaped object, draped with a lavender coloured cloth.
"Sure," Lucy agreed. She looked at the object with curiosity. "But what is that, Erza?"
"I'll explain later," Erza told her. "I need to talk to Master about it. DO NOT let anyone else touch it." She warned, giving off a dangerous aura.
"O- OK," Lucy stuttered. Nobody ever dared to disagree with the invincible Titania. I better take good care of it, Lucy thought. I don't want to get in trouble with Erza!
A minute after Erza left, Natsu Dragneel and Happy the Exceed walked towards Lucy (or flew towards Lucy in Happy's case).
"Lucy! What's that thing next to you?" Natsu asked, while Happy flew around it.
"Careful!" Lucy warned. "It belongs to Erza!"
"Erza? So, she finally came back from her S Class job, huh? How mean of her, leaving us here while she went on a job alone. We're a team! Has she forgotten that?" Natsu frowned.
"But we're not in S Class," Lucy reminded him.
Happy lifted the cloth up from the object. "Oh look! It's a mirror!"
"Happy!" Lucy shouted. Then she lowered her voice, not wanting Erza to hear her. "Put it back. Erza will kill me if anyone touches it!"
Happy gave an innocent look. "But I'm not you..." he said in a mocking tone.
"Happy! That's evil!" Lucy wailed, horrified by the Exceed's statement. "We're teammates!"
Natsu was ignoring his teammates and was checking out the mirror Erza brought back. It looked very old, maybe even ancient. The frame of the mirror was very dusty, but the dragon slayer could tell that it was painted gold. There were some strange markings on the frame. Are these words? Natsu wondered. If they were, they were written in some weird language Natsu couldn't understand. Maybe they aren't words, Natsu told himself. Maybe it's some sort of design.
He stared at the mirror. At first, all he saw was his own reflection, which was normal. It was a mirror, what else could it show? Yet, what he saw gradually changed. A tiny ripple seemed to form on the mirror, as if the mirror was a pond. Then the ripple slowly got bigger and bigger, until he could no longer see his own reflection. Instead, he saw an image forming on the mirror. It was something red. Something big and grand. The image became clearer, and Natsu realised it was not 'something', but 'someone'.
It was Igneel.
Igneel, his foster father. Igneel, the fire dragon that taught him dragon slayer magic. Igneel, the red dragon that disappeared seven years ago. Igneel, whom Natsu missed so much.
The image of the dragon started moving. It was beckoning to Natsu, as if wanting Natsu to go into the world inside the mirror, the place where Igneel was. Natsu placed his hand on the surface of the mirror. He wanted to go where Igneel was, no matter how impossible it seemed. Please, let me go in, he thought.
All this time Lucy and Happy were busy arguing. They didn't notice what Natsu was doing. Suddenly, Happy turned to Natsu, wanting to ask for his opinion about his stand in his argument with Lucy. Then he saw Natsu's hand going into the mirror.
"NATSU!" he shouted, flying towards his best friend. "Lucy, look!"
Lucy rushed towards Natsu. "No!" she shouted, her eyes wide. "What's going on? Natsu, get your hand out of the mirror!"
Natsu didn't seem to hear either of them. The look in his eyes were determined. He wanted to find Igneel. Slowly, his arm was entering the mirror as well.
Lucy and Happy both tried to pull Natsu out, but it was no use. Natsu couldn't hear them, and he couldn't seem to move his own body. It was as if he had lost consciousness.
"Master! Mira! Erza! Somebody HELP!" Lucy yelled.
Mirajane Strauss came running to see what was going on, followed by her younger brother, Elfman. However, even with Mirajane and strong Elfman's help, they couldn't get Natsu out. The mirror was pulling him in.
Lucy was frantic. "Mira, where's Master and Erza?" she asked.
"They're at the back of the guild. I don't think they can hear us." Mirajane replied worriedly.
"What about the rest of the guild?" Lucy asked.
"They're probably on a job," Elfman answered.
"Why now?" Lucy and Happy exclaimed at the same time.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Master's loud voice boomed.
"Master!" Happy cried, fearing for his best friend's safety. "Please help Natsu!"
But it was too late. Natsu's whole body had already entered the mirror. The only thing they could do was stare at the mirror in horror.